Way back in the Dark Ages – that’d be 2002 – I began handling my New Jersey motor vehicle registration renewals online. I won’t bore you with the details, but it actually took a tiny bit of the sting out of the exorbitant fees we’re charged here, being able to handle it with a few clicks of the mouse. Once I Started doing it this way I never looked back. Multiply the number of years by the number of vehicles (like everyone else in this oh-so-dense state I’ve got several) and, well, that’s quite a few successful transactions.
And at the conclusion of each was an opportunity to participate in a little survey. In the comment box I always applauded the state for taking this tiny step toward making the process a little easier for us poor slobs – er, citizens.
In yesterdays mail was a notice that a registration was soon due for renewal. And today as I was clearing the desk I began the task. But something stopped me in my tracks.
They had tacked on a $2 Convenience Fee!
Sure, it’s only two bucks. Change, really, you can’t even get a decent cup of coffee for two bucks these days, but it’s the principle of the thing. I checked their FAQ. It was easy enough to find. The couple of lines explained that they were passing along the fee for processing a credit card payment, and the state saw none of it.
I’m sorry, but that’s just too bad! In the course of running my business I also process credit cards. It certainly is more expensive for me to process a customer’s credit card payment, but I treat it as a cost of doing business and I never discriminate against credit card users.
Needless to say, I abandoned the registration transaction. I put a note in the calendar and the papers (along with the envelope I fished from the recycling bin) in the folder for payment closer to the due date. There’s absolutely no sense in paying them early, now! And then, freshly disgruntled, I wrote and told them exactly what I thought of their Convenience Fee.
I’m not expecting a reply.
AFAIK charging extra a fee for credit card use is illegal. But you probably notice, as I do, that some gas stations are again posting two sets of prices – one for cash and another higher one for credit. How can this be? Wording. There’s nothing illegal about granting a discount for cash. And you can advertise whichever price you choose.
Before you ask, yes, I do drive away from the pump of a station that does this, and if the attendant makes it as far as my window I’ll tell them why.
Hmmm. Whenever I had a business, I didn’t take plastic, since (a) the discounts were too high on my tiny tickets, and (b) it’s illegal under Federal law (unless I’m mistaken or it’s been changed), to charge a fee for credit card usage or a minimum sales amount.
Sic semper NJ!
Now, as for asking stuff at the counter, well, I tried that once. Talking to the brick wall outside is as productive as talking to the drones inside. Of course, given my legendary loud mouth and scary demeanor, I was surrounded by guard types and I’m sure they prefer I don’t visit again. I wonder if they’ve fixed the door I ripped off on the way out?
Thanks for sharing, Lou. As it turns out, sitting in the mail pile is a registration renewal for the bike. There’s an MVS office just a few miles away so I may ride on over and handle it in person. Better than writing a check, saves time and postage, and makes for a nice little putt. If I do that I’ll be sure to ask at the counter exactly why the fees are structured that way. Then I’ll point out how New Jersey’s not being ‘green’, contributing to pollution by requiring a drive to the office. Should be fun!
As far as improverments over the old days, I can’t agree more. Used to be that every trip to a DMV office was a trip to purgatory for at least a day, and quite often required multiple visits. The system revamp wasn’t without problems, however. I had some friends involved with that contract, and the way I heard the story goes somethng like this.
As a state project, this one went out for bids and design recommendations. The completed system design turned out to be pretty a good one (for that time). During development, though, things went sour. You could guess that the root of the matter was money – that the state didn’t want to pay for what they had approved – and you would be right. (It didn’t help matters that technology project management wasn’t anywhere near as evolved then as it is today, and we all know that even today cost overruns are very common indeed! Stir in a healthy spoonful of New Jersey’s legendary corruption to complete the mix.) Making a long story short, corners were cut to save money. And to this day some parts of the system have trouble communicating with other parts. Sure, there have been patches between then and now and we no longer see things like licenses being issued to revokees, but such things – and worse – were quite common for years.
And yes, I agree, lowering the cost of doing business should result in lower prices for the consumer. Online, the benefits go far beyond simple convenience to include transaction speed, data accuracy, reduced need for manpower, and much, much more. Why shouldn’t the consumer reap part of the benefit? Oh, yeah, this is the state where an unbelted governor, speeding between meetings, can get banged up in a wreck and react by stepping up seatbelt enforcement checkpoints so as to collect more fines.
I WENT to a NJ MVS office (DMV) to reregister a car IN PERSON after I discovered the “Convenience Fee” charged for this transaction when performed on-line AND reading these blogs.
FYI – The NJ MVS does NOT charge a “Convince Fee” when using a credit card for this purpose when doing so IN PERSON!?
YET!
Maybe they don’t consider a visit to the MVS a convenience?
I must say here that the NJ MVS has improved tremendously over what it had been as the old DMV!
Now if we could only receive a DISCOUNT for performing these tasks for them on-line (with credit cards) as other states offer.
They say, “expect the unexpected.”
I did get a reply from someone at the Customer Advocacy Office. They wrote:
They went on to basically reiterate what can be found in the NJ MVC
FAQ, but then continued with:
We swapped a few more messages through email. I’ve got little hope that the fee will be removed as a result of our exchange.
I’ve since written a check and stuffed the envelope, which cost forty one cents as opposed to two dollars.